The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras is the 40th season of the MTV reality competition series The Challenge, featuring alumni from The Real World, Road Rules, The Challenge, Are You the One?, Big Brother, Survivor, Love Island (U.S. and UK), Survival of the Fittest, and Exatlon (U.S.) competing for a share at a $1 million prize. A launch special titled "Eras Only" aired on August 7, 2024, followed by the season premiere on August 14, 2024.
Format Battle of the Eras features 40 contestants split into four teams based on which season of The Challenge they debuted on. Those who debuted during the first ten seasons (Road Rules: All Stars through The Inferno II) comprised Era I; those who debuted between the eleventh and twentieth seasons (The Gauntlet 2 through Cutthroat) made up Era II; those who debuted between the twenty-first and thirtieth seasons (Rivals through XXX: Dirty 30) made up Era III; and those who debuted between the thirty-first and thirty-ninth seasons (Vendettas through Battle for a New Champion) made up Era IV.
Following the opening "Era Invitational" twist, the format of the game from episode 3–9 is as follows: Daily challenges: Players compete in a challenge as teams. Each team has a male and female target selected by the winners of the previous elimination round (known as "representatives" for episode 3, who were instead elected by their team). The winning team's targets are safe from elimination while the last-place team's targets are automatically sent to the elimination round. Nominations (The Chamber): The targets of the winning team must select a male and female target from one of the teams that did not win to compete against the last-place team's targets in the elimination round. If the winners do not agree, they are sent to the elimination round instead. Eliminations (The Arena): The targets of the last-place team individually compete in an elimination round against the targets selected by the winning team's targets. The winners of the elimination round continue in the competition and earn the power to choose the next targets, while the losers are eliminated. From episode 10–17, the game modified to an individual format where eliminations alternate between male and female cycles, with the first cycle determined by a coin toss. In the daily challenge, the last-place player of the designated gender is automatically sent to the Arena while the last-place player of the non-designated gender receives a disadvantage for the following challenge. The winning male and female player of the daily challenge are immune and receive the power to select one of the targets to compete in the elimination round against the last-place player of the daily challenge. If the winners do not agree, the decision of the winner of the gender not competing in the elimination takes precedence.
In episode 18/19, the final eight contestants compete in the Final Challenge to determine the champions of the season. Twists Era Invitational: For the first challenge, contestants compete against members of their Era, as part of the "Era Invitational" twist which culminates in eight eliminations. The last-place male and female player from each Era are automatically sent to the elimination round. The winning male and female player are immune and earn the power to select two members of their own Era to compete against the last-place players in the elimination round. Karma Vote: In a twist unknown to contestants at the time, each eliminated contestant is given the chance to rate the remaining contestants from one (lowest) to five (highest). In the finale, it is revealed that the points cast for each finalist from the Karma Vote contribute to the scoring of the Final Challenge to determine the final placements. Targets: From episodes 3-9, the winners of elimination round earn the power to select one male and female player from each team as new targets for the next cycle. From episodes 10-16, the winner of the elimination round selects three targets of the opposite gender (with the challenge winners immune from selection) for the next cycle. Purge: In episode 12, the "Duned" challenge doubled as a Purge where the last-place male and female player were automatically eliminated from the competition. The regular penalties for last place were instead given to the second to last player of each gender.
Contestants Male contestants Original season Finish The Real World: Portland Winner The Real World: Cancun Runner-up The Real World: Key West Third place Big Brother 23 Fourth place Real World: Ex-Plosion Episode 16Big Brother 19 Episode 14 Love Island UK 3 Episode 12 The Real World: Austin Episode 12 Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat Episode 10 Are You the One? 3 Episode 9 Road Rules: X-Treme Episode 8 Road Rules: Campus Crawl Episode 7 The Real World: San Diego (2004) Episode 6 The Real World: Paris Episode 5 Exatlón Estados Unidos 5 Episode 4 Real World: Skeletons Episode 3 The Challenge: Fresh Meat II Episode 2 Big Brother 18 Episode 2 Road Rules: USA – The First Adventure Episode 2 The Real World: Las Vegas (2011) Episode 2 Female contestants Original season Finish Survival of the FittestWinner Road Rules: Campus Crawl Winner Survivor: Kaôh Rōng Third place Are You the One? 4 Fourth place The Challenge: Fresh Meat II Episode 17 Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat Episode 15 Love Island USA 3 Episode 13 The Challenge: Fresh Meat II Episode 12 The Real World: Portland Episode 11 Big Brother 20 Episode 9 The Real World: Portland Episode 8 Road Rules: South Pacific Episode 7 The Real World: Cancun Episode 6 The Real World: D.C. Episode 5 The Real World: Chicago Episode 4 Road Rules: X-Treme Episode 3 The Real World: Sydney Episode 2 Are You the One? 6 Episode 2 Road Rules: The Quest Episode 2 Are You the One? 3 Episode 2
Teams AneesaAvivAmandaHoracioBradBananasAvereyJennyCTBrandonCoryJoshDarrellCara MariaDevinKayceeDerrick K.Derek C.JonnaKylandJodiEmilyJordanMicheleKatieKellyAnneLeroyNurysMarkLaurelNiaOliviaRachelNehemiahTonyPaulieTinaRyanToriTheo
Debut season
Gameplay Challenge games Light It Up: Players must assemble a three-dimensional puzzle, paddle a coracle to collect ten lights of their Era's color from buoys in a lake, then place them on their board onshore. The first male and female players from each Era to finish win, while the last-place male and female players from each Era are automatically sent to the elimination round. Winners: CT and Rachel (Era I), Bananas and Laurel (Era II), Cory and Tori (Era III), Horacio and Michele (Era IV) Gladieater: Teams must paddle a dragon boat around an island. Once complete, each team member must consume one of eight delicacy dishes. Afterwards, teams must hang shields with logos of all 40 seasons of The Challenge to date in chronological order. The first team to finish wins while the last team to finish has their representatives automatically sent to the Arena. Winners: Era III Cradled Cranium: Teams begin harnessed 30-feet above water. Each round, one member from each team selects an unrevealed trivia question from among various categories to answer, which also vary in points based on their difficulty. If they answer correctly, their team earns the points assigned to that question. However, if they answer incorrectly, two members of their team are dropped into the water and eliminated from the challenge. The team with the most points by the time all their team members are eliminated wins while the team with the fewest points have their targets automatically sent to the Arena. In the event of a tie, a sudden death round involving one member from each tied team is held. Winners: Era II Fast Pass: Teams must carry and maneuver a large Y-shaped beam around various trees to reach eight sandbags, and return them to the start four at a time. Afterwards, two team members must distribute the sandbags on a balance beam so that the weight balances out. The first team to finish wins while the last team to finish has their targets automatically sent to the Arena. Winners: Era IV Cloud Catcher: Three team members at a time race to collect large helium balloons attached to their team's poles and attempt to return them to their team's station intact. While returning the balloons, players must take them through a pergola covered in spikes. Once teams collect all their balloons, either intact or popped, they must solve a riddle and use the answer to unlock a chest to stop their time. The team with the most intact balloons collected wins, with ties broken based on time, while the team with the fewest intact balloons (or slowest time) has their targets automatically sent to the Arena. Winners: Era IV Leap of Faith: Four team members are selected to be harnessed and jump off the helipad of the Bitexco Financial Tower to grab one of four hanging flags. After one team member jumps, the three other members must pull them back up before the next player can jump. Teams are imposed varying time penalties for dropping or missing a flag or collecting two flags at once. There is also a bonus flag which deducts three minutes from teams' overall time if collected. After all four flags are collected, the non-jumping team members must solve a puzzle to have their team's time stopped. For teams with only four members, one team member who jumped must also solve the puzzle on their team's behalf. The team with the fastest time wins while the team with the slowest time has their targets automatically sent to the Arena. Winners: Era III Battle for Honor: Inspired by the film Gladiator II, the challenge is played in 20-minute male and female rounds. Players begin on a muddy platform and attempt to push their opponents into the surrounding water using a shield while avoiding being pushed off themselves. Players are eliminated from the challenge if they are pushed into the water or get held down for an extended time. The team with the most players still standing by the end of both rounds wins while the team with the fewest players has their targets automatically sent to the Arena. Winners: Era IV Bottoms Out: Teams attempt to answer 27 math questions, with each equation only displayed briefly before the next one is shown. For each equation teams answer correctly, they receive one climbing hold for the next part of the challenge. Afterwards, teams enter a shipping container above water, where the walls are mounted with the climbing holds they earned. Once the bottom of the container opens, teams attempt to hold themselves up for as long as possible from the climbing holds. The team that holds on for the longest time wins while the team with the shortest time has their targets automatically sent to the Arena. Winners: Era I Fire Away: A trebuchet launches balls into a field which players must collect and place in a tube at their station two at a time. After collecting enough balls to fill the tube, players must then solve a puzzle. The first male and female player to solve their puzzle wins while the last-place female player receives a disadvantage at the next challenge and the last-place male player is automatically sent to the Arena. Winners: Jordan and Tori